The INCREDIBLE Rock-Cut Theater of Ancient Petra | Ancient Architects

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We've all seen examples of Roman theatres, stadiums and amphitheaters, often circular or semi-circular, being tiered constructions with seating so an audience can watch a spectacle, whether it's gladiators facing off, a drama, dance or music or maybe some athletic competition.

我们都见过罗马剧院、体育场和露天剧场的例子，通常是圆形或半圆形，是分层建筑，观众坐在座位上观看表演，无论是角斗士对峙、戏剧、舞蹈或音乐，或者可能是一些体育比赛。

But there is one example I recently come across from the famous Ancient City of Petra, and it really is something else.

但是最近我在著名的佩特拉古城发现了一个例子，确实是与众不同的。

Petra wasn't the way that many people often portray, as a lost city with impossible ancient stonework, dating back many thousands and thousands of years and discovered by a group of nomads called the Nabatians. It dates back to the 5th century BC.

Petra并不像许多人常常描述的那样，是一个迷失的城市，拥有不可能的古老石雕，可以追溯到数千年前，被一个名为纳巴提人的游牧民族发现。它可以追溯到公元前5世纪。

It was a rich cosmopolitan city located on a major trade route. It was a place that people wanted to go to and a place where people wanted to live. This culture that was called the Nabatians included bands of people from across the region. 30,000 people lived here, most of whom were immigrants. There were Egyptians, Syrians, Greeks, Romans and Judeans who came to a region that Persians referred to as a paradise resort.

这是一个位于主要商路上的富庶国际化城市。那里是人们想去、想住的地方。这个被称为拿巴提人的文化包括来自周边地区的族群。这里住着3万人，大部分是移民。有埃及人、叙利亚人、希腊人、罗马人和犹太人来到了这个波斯人称之为天堂度假胜地的地方。

It was a real cosmopolitan world where ideas and technologies blended together. We see this very clearly in the art of the city, and most of the examples have now been removed and sit within museums around the world.

这是一个真正的国际化世界，在这里各种思想和技术融合在一起。我们可以从城市的艺术中清楚地看到这一点，但现在大多数这样的艺术品都被移走并陈列在世界各地的博物馆中。

Structures from tombs to villas were cut into the sandstone bedrock, and that was to avoid damage from frequent earthquakes. They also had systems to trap rainwater and transport it around the city to transform this barren red land we see today into something bright green, beautiful and lush.

从古墓到别墅的建筑物都是从砂岩基岩上切割而成，这是为了避免频繁的地震对建筑物造成损坏。他们还设计了收集雨水并将其运输到城市周围，使我们今天所看到的贫瘠红色土地变得明亮、美丽和郁郁葱葱。

It was only abandoned because of a change in the trade routes. It stopped being a commercial centre, and so, without economics, there was no reason for people to live here and struggle. People moved on, they followed the money.

它仅仅因为贸易路线的变化而被抛弃了。它不再是商业中心，没有了经济条件，人们就没有生活和奋斗的理由。人们搬离了这里，追随着金钱。

A key part of the city was Petra Theatre, a major cultural and political landmark under Aratastorforth, who reigned between 9 BC and 40 AD when Petra was a client state of the Roman Empire. Under his rule, and no doubt dictated by the Romans, Petra underwent large-scale construction projects, and this theatre is an incredible example of this work. One of the Romans ever done for us. In 106 AD, the Nabatean Kingdom lost its independence and the Romans annexed the city, and in doing so, they refurbished many of the public buildings including the theatre.

城市的重要部分是佩特拉剧院，它是公元前9年到公元40年受罗马帝国管辖下的佩特拉的一个重要文化和政治地标。在Aratastorforth统治期间，佩特拉进行了大规模的建设项目，当然受罗马人的指导。这个剧院就是这个工程的一个惊人例子。在公元106年，纳巴提亚王国失去独立，并被罗马吞并。在此过程中，罗马人重新装修了许多公共建筑，包括剧院。

They rebuilt the stage wall, extended the orchestra's floor level, and some say they even doubled the amount of seating. The theatre itself is located 600 metres from the centre of Petra, cut into the side of a mountain, at the foot of what is known as the High Place of Sacrifice. It consists of an auditorium with a semi-circular orchestra. There are three horizontal sections or seating areas, separated by passageways, and there are also seven staircases.

他们重建了舞台的墙壁，扩大了管弦乐队的地板高度，有人说他们甚至把座位数量翻了一番。这个剧院本身位于佩特拉市中心600米处，在一座山的山腰处开凿而成，位于被称为高处祭坛的山脚下。它由一个半圆形的管弦乐广场和一个观众席组成。观众席分为三个水平区域，由过道分隔开，并且有七个楼梯。

One full, the venue could seat approximately 8500 people. Like with Roman examples, it also had superb acoustic properties. There was a stage, podium and side doors, just like with many modern-day entertainment venues. Although we don't know exactly what it was used for, we can hazard a guess that it was used for entertainment, public meetings and maybe religious purposes as well. Some say that pilgrims may have stopped here to conduct certain rituals, but there really isn't any evidence.

这个场地能够容纳约8500人。就像古罗马的例子一样，这个地方也具有卓越的音响性能。有一个舞台、讲台和侧门，就像许多现代娱乐场所一样。虽然我们不知道它具体被用于什么，但我们可以猜测它被用于娱乐、公共会议，也可能是宗教用途。有人说朝圣者可能会在这里停留进行某些仪式，但实际上并没有证据。

As stated, it was carved out of the solid red sandstone bedrock, and informing the back wall, a whole street of famous Petra facades were wiped out. This is seen by these large gaping holes, which are actually the interior of tombs that were destroyed to make way for the theatre. Over the left we can see the older tombs that still have their facades intact.

就像我们所说的，它是从坚实的红砂岩岩床上刻划而成的，在背面的墙上，整条著名的佩特拉立面街被抹掉了。这可以从这些大洞口中看到，实际上是被摧毁以为剧院腾出地方的墓穴的内部。在左边，我们可以看到仍然保留有立面的旧墓穴。

Cutting the seating would have been a painstaking and difficult job for the builders, and just like with other examples of rock cut structures at Petra, those that worked on the theatre did a near-perfect job. What we see today are the archaeological remains, but it would have looked somewhat different in its heyday. For example, we know the stage backdrop was demolished by a large earthquake in the 4th century AD. The stage area has since been reconstructed.

为建造者来说，切割座位将是一项繁琐且困难的工作。就像佩特拉其他岩石雕刻建筑的例子一样，那些参与剧院建造的人们做得非常出色。今天我们看到的是考古遗址，但在它的鼎盛时期，看起来会有所不同。例如，我们知道在公元4世纪时，一次大地震摧毁了舞台背景。自那时以来，舞台区已经被重新修建。

Now there is a lot of controversy around Petra on the internet, and if you watch videos on YouTube about this incredible lost city, many presenters and commenters state their belief that this city is far more ancient than we are told. Some even believe it's pre-Yungadryus, but I have to say, although we can't specifically date stone, there are a number of misconceptions in the public domain that people draw upon. So I'd just like to clear this up.

现在网络上围绕Petra存在很多争议，如果你在YouTube上观看关于这座令人难以置信的失落城市的视频，许多演讲者和评论者陈述了他们的信念，即这座城市比我们所知的要古老得多。有些人甚至认为它比雅典德里王国还要古老，但是我必须说，虽然我们无法具体地确定石头的年代，但公众领域存在许多误解，人们经常引用这些误解。所以我想澄清一下这个问题。

It really isn't that hard to find very detailed geological and archaeological reports on Petra, yet these are often totally overlooked. For a start, Petra is cut from Red Sandstone. It's not quartzite as some say, and even though in places, this sandstone can be harder than your average sedimentary rock, mainly due to the ferrous ridge matrix between the sun grains, it's certainly easier to carve than quartzite. So, this theatre is certainly not outside of the known capabilities of an abatian, especially when it became a client state of the Romans.

其实很容易找到有关佩特拉的非常详细的地质和考古报告，但这些往往被完全忽视。首先，佩特拉是由红砂岩切割而成的，不是一些人说的石英岩，尽管在某些地方，这种砂岩可能比普通沉积岩更坚硬，主要是由于太阳粒之间的铁脊基质，但它肯定比石英岩更容易雕刻。因此，这个剧院对于一个阿巴提人来说肯定不在其知名的机能之外，特别是在它成为罗马的附属国后。

I've also noted that some people have said to look at the weathering on the seating area, which apparently means it must have been exposed for many thousands of years. But again, a quick Google search can bring up a paper called Analysis of Sandstone Weathering of the Roman Theatre in Petra Jordan. It took me just 30 seconds to find this. It looks the way it looks because the matrix between the sun grains is varied. The chemistry includes iron, aluminium, calcium and silica. Areas of the rock, rich in iron, still look somewhat fresh. You can still see the original Stone Mason's marks. But the area's low in iron look far more weathered, and this comes from various processes, including such things as daily temperature changes and sunlight exposure on the rock, from midday to midnight. This does break down the sedimentary rock. The weathering at the theatre, in fact across the whole of Petra, is evidence in itself that the whole site is correctly dated. You can even see the natural patterner on the rock, on the cut faces, which occurs naturally and is a very good indication of age.

我还注意到有人说要看座位区的风化情况，这意味着它必须暴露了许多千年。但是，一个快速的谷歌搜索可以找到一篇名为《佩特拉约旦罗马剧院砂岩风化分析》的论文，我只花了30秒钟就找到了它。它看起来的样子是由于太阳颗粒之间的基质是多样的。化学成分包括铁、铝、钙和硅。铁质丰富的岩石区域仍然看起来有些新鲜。你仍然可以看到原始的石匠标记。但是低铁的区域看起来更加风化，这来自于各种进程，包括日常温度变化和从正午到午夜对岩石的阳光暴露。这确实会破坏沉积岩。事实上，剧院及整个佩特拉的风化情况本身就证明了整个遗址的正确年代。你甚至可以在切面上看到岩石的自然图案，这是自然发生的，是一个非常好的年代指示。

Petra as a site clearly has a greco-roman influence in design and style. The rate of weathering is perfectly in line with an abatian origin, and all of the archaeological finds back up the dating. So that science, archaeology and art history together, all pointing to Petra having an abatian origin clearly with a strong greco-roman influence.

佩特拉作为一个历史遗址，在设计和风格上明显受到希腊罗马文化的影响。其风化速度与阿巴特文化的起源完全一致，所有考古发现都支持这个时间的历史辨证。因此，科学、考古学和艺术史三合一，均表明佩特拉起源于阿巴特文化，但明显受到强烈的希腊罗马文化的影响。

After reading about all of this, I next read the 1964 excavation report of the theatre. The amount of detail is fascinating. For example, large walls surrounded it, preventing gate crashes from entering. There are two main entrances, one at each side. There was a complex water control system that was cut into the upper gallery to convey rainwater away from the heart of the theatre during the three wetter months of the year. There were even two so-called royal boxes built above the main entrances, and these overlooked the stage platform. Only earmarked for royalty and important guests.

在阅读了所有内容之后，我接着阅读了剧院的1964年发掘报告。这份报告中的细节非常吸引人。例如，大墙把它包围起来，防止不速之客进入。主要入口有两个，分别位于两侧。剧院上部还有一个复杂的水控系统，可以把三个更潮湿的月份的雨水从剧院的中心引走。甚至还有两个所谓的皇家包厢，在主入口上方建造，俯瞰着舞台。只能为皇室和重要客人保留。

There are prime examples of trademark Roman cement in the theatre's vaults, which contains dateable fragments of old broken pottery. Inscriptions were also found, including the word theatre, that was written in large Greek letters. Column drums were also found and were marked with abatian letters. Makers marks to aid the people that put the columns together. These marks were only seen because the columns fell after a huge earthquake ripped through Petra many hundreds of years ago.

在剧院的拱顶中有一些非常典型的罗马水泥，其中含有可以追溯到旧陶器残片的日期。还发现了一些题字，其中包括用希腊大写字母写成的“剧院”字样。还发现了柱子的鼓，上面标有帮助安装柱子的工匠标记。这些标记之所以能被看到，是因为几个世纪以前，一场巨大的地震摧毁了佩特拉，使得这些柱子倒塌。

There is so much I could talk about, so much more detail I could go into, but for this video I just wanted to give an overview. This is an abatian created, Greco-Roman inspired site of excellence, and something we should all know about. There was once a bustling city, and just like many Greco-Roman cities of the day, it too had its own theatre. But in true Nabatian style, it wasn't a mere building project, no they cut theirs out of a mountain, arguably surpassing the work of the Romans.

有许多话题我可以谈论，也有更多的细节可以深入讲解，但在这个视频里，我只想概述一下。这是一个由阿拉伯人建造，受希腊罗马启发的优秀场所，是我们所有人都应该了解的东西。曾经有一个繁华的城市，就像当时的许多希腊罗马城市一样，它也有自己的剧院。但是以真正的纳巴蒂安风格，它并不是一个简单的建筑项目，他们将它挖在了山里，可以说超过了罗马人的工作。

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